Bin Sort

Bin sort questions are similar to drag-and-drop questions. These questions allow you to create interactive sorting and matching activities where multiple items can go in the same bin. A bin sort question is composed of draggable items, sorting bins, and optional background images and text. Draggable items can match one or more bins or none at all. Unlike drag-and-drop targets, which can only match one draggable item, sorting bins can have multiple draggable items that match.

To create a bin sort question:

1. Click the New Question button and choose Bin Sort.

2. Enter a question Title.
   Note: When creating a new question, if you do not enter a question Title, it will auto-populate with an ellipsis when you click OK. If you do not want the Title to auto-populate for new questions, deselect the Automatically populate question titles option in your profile.  

3. Select a Draggable size to specify the size of the draggable items or select Custom to specify your own dimensions.
   
   Note: The draggables will all be the same size.

4. By default, the draggable items will be scrambled automatically. If you do not want the items to be scrambled, clear the Scramble draggables automatically check box.

5. Click Add Background Image and select the image to be used for the bin sort interaction. The maximum size of the background is 646 x 565. You can resize the image if necessary. You can use the Background Image Information to see the image location and size.
   
   Note: A background image is not required. You can create a bin sort question with just draggables and bins.

6. Click Add Draggable to create an item students can drag. A draggable item can be text, an image, or a combination of both.

7. (Optional) Enter Text for the draggable item. If you enter text you can also set the font, size, font color, alignment, and justification.

8. (Optional) Click Upload Image to add an image to the draggable item. If you entered text for the draggable item, it will appear over the image and you can adjust its location.

9. (Optional) If the draggable item will match more than one bin, select the Reusable check box.

10. Drag the draggable item to its starting position. You can use the Information section to help position the item.
    
    Note: If the Scramble draggables automatically check box is selected, the draggable items will be scrambled for students. In that case, there is no need to place them in a random order.

11. Click Add Sorting Bin and drag it to the desired location. You can use the slider in the Sorting Bin Options to control the transparency of the sorting bin. Each sorting bin can be a different size. To make all the bins the same size, select the bin with the desired dimensions and click Equalize Sizes.
    
    Note: You can only have four sorting bins in a question.

12. Drag the draggable item to the matching sorting bins. The frame around the draggable item changes to match the color of the bin it matches.
    
    Note: If the draggable item is set to reusable, you can drag it to multiple sorting bins.

13. Repeat steps 6-12 to add all the draggable items and bins.
    
    Note: You can add draggable items that do not match sorting bins.

14. To delete any item (draggable, sorting bin, background image, text), click it and drag it to the trash can that appears as you drag it.

15. To assign a draggable item to a different bin, click the draggable and click Break Link.

16. (Optional) If you want to include instructions or additional text, click Add Text. When you add text, you can also select the font, size, font color, and alignment.

17. Use the alignment tools to arrange the different elements. Hold down the CTRL or SHIFT keys while clicking to select multiple items and move or align them.

    	Move to Left	Move one or more selected items to the left border.
    	Move to Right	Move one or more selected items to the right border.
    	Move to Top	Move one or more selected items to the top border.
    	Move to Bottom	Move one or more selected items to the bottom border.
    	Move to Center	Move one or more selected items to the center of the window.
    	Align Left	Align two or more items with the left border of the left-most item.
    	Align Right	Align two or more items with the right border of the right-most item.
    	Align Top	Align two or more items with the top border of the top-most item.
    	Align Bottom	Align two or more items with the bottom border of the bottom-most item.
    	Distribute Horizontally	Evenly space three or more items horizontally. It is usually best to use  Align Top or Align Bottom before using this button.
    	Distribute Vertically	Evenly space three or more items vertically. It is usually best to use  Align Left or Align Right before using this button.

18. (Optional) If you want students to receive points even when they do not match all the correct answers, select Allow partial credit and enter a Points value.
    
    Note: The score for a bin sort question is calculated as: C/(D+E)*P
    
    C – the total number of draggable items correctly placed in the student answer.
    D – the total number of draggable items in all bins in the correct answer.
    E – the number of items placed by the student that exceeds D. In most cases, this will be zero. This only occurs when there are extra draggable items that don't have matching bins or if there are reusable draggable items. 
    P – the point value of the question. 
    
    Examples:
    
    If a question is worth 10 points and the student correctly drags 8 out of 10 items, they earn 8 points (8/(10+0)*10).
    If a question is worth 10 points and the student places a total of 12 items, 8 of which are correct, they earn 6 points (8/(10+2)*10).

19. (Optional) Click the Answer and Grading tab and select an Evaluation Mode.

    • Select Automatically scored to have the system score the questions. In most cases, you will want the question automatically scored, and by default, bin sort questions are set to be automatically graded.

    • Select Manually scored to have instructors grade the questions.

20. (Optional) Click the Preview tab to check the layout of the question.

21. (Optional) Click the Rationale tab to enter the reasoning behind the question or detailed information on the solution.

22. (Optional) Click the Info tab to enter additional question information.

    • If the question is connected to a table, picture, or other shared information, select a preface from the Preface drop-down list.

    • Click Info and Objectives to enter question information such as difficulty levels, references, and standards.

    • Bin sort questions are automatically set to Electronic only. If you want to include a bin sort question on printed tests, deselect the Electronic only option.

23. Click OK to record the question.

Note:

• Bin sort questions are not included in LMS exports.